Sales and Marketing Post COVID-19 is Your Opportunity. Really.
A Series of How-To Articles for Sales and Marketers
Jim Lovell, the Commander of Apollo 13 said, “There are three kinds of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.”
But in 1513, Niccolo Machiavelli had said, “There are three different kinds of brains. One understands things unassisted, while the another understands things when shown by others. The third kind understands neither alone nor with the explanations of others. The first kind is most excellent, and the second also excellent. The third, however, is useless.”
When COVID-19 hit, businesses everywhere had not only to deal with the virus, but with the government’s reaction to the virus. Essentially, businesses did not go on pause: they went on full stop or lock downs.
We are going to live with these decisions for many years ahead of us. As Scott Berman, the principal and industry leader at PwC said in an online panel discussion “Recovery by Numbers,” “Data are better now, but data scientists have to speak to the moment. We are far from the end.”[1]
My question since the onslaught of COVID-19 was simple: what did businesses do when this happened?
Did they make things happen, watch what happened or wonder what happened?
What kind of brains did we have – the kind that understood unassisted, when shown by others, or neither alone or with the explanations of others? In other words, were we excellent or useless? Most important, what could we learn from the reaction of businesses to COVID-19?
I could tell you what our business did, but that would be self-serving. Instead I interviewed businesses, watched webinars and drove our small business forward so that today, we’re still standing. Fighting. Trying to make things happen.
At the same time, we’re “wondering” what is happening all around us, because this is not just a business problem, is it?
Not all businesses did the same things. Some businesses (i.e. some restaurants) never stood a chance.
What did the ones that are still standing do? Was it just luck? Or, did they do something else? What did the ones that fell (often, there was nothing they could do about it) share in common?
I wanted to share what I heard and decided to post these essays. Hopefully, what I learned during this unbelievable disruptive time will help you get through these turbulent waters, which are here and still ahead of us for some time to come. I’m talking about the Post-COVID-19 Because they ARE full of opportunities…and peril.
Please click on any of the sections below. And, Good Luck in your Navigation!
Navigating Architecture Post COVID-19
Navigating Manufacturing Post COVID-19
Navigating Media Outlets Post COVID-19
Navigating Retail Post COVID-19
Navigating Security Post COVID-19
Navigating Showrooms Post COVID-19
Navigating Travel and Hospitality Post COVID-19
Navigating with Resilience Post COVID-19
Navigating Your Home Post COVID-19
[1] Recovery by the Numbers: What to Expect in the Lodging Industry, held on September 15 with Linda Canina, Professor, Cornell School of Hotel Administration, Aran Ryan, Director, Lodging Analytics, Tourism Economics, Scott Berman, Principal and Industry Leader, PwC, Jess Petitt, VP of Analytics, Hilton, and Jan Freitag, Senior VP, STR. The session featured five lodging industry veterans sharing their experiences thus far and taking a close look at the road ahead, offering insights into the recoveries already underway in some sectors as well as strategies for how other sectors can successfully weather this unprecedented storm.